Wyden was born in Kansas to Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany; his father changed the family name from Weidenreich to Wyden. Ron grew up in Palo Alto, California. He attended (1967–69) the University of California, Santa Barbara, on a basketball scholarship before transferring to Stanford University, where he received a bachelor’s degree (1971) in political science. He then studied law (J.D., 1974) at the University of Oregon. After graduating, Wyden worked as an advocate for the elderly, cofounding (1974) the Oregon Gray Panthers and serving as director of the Oregon Legal Services for the Elderly (1977–79). During that time he married (1978) Laurie Oseran, and the couple had two children before divorcing in 1999. He later wed (2005) Nancy Bass, and they had three children.

U.S. senators: mapInteractive map of the United States showing each state's senators and their party membership.Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc./Kenny Chmielewski

In 1980 Wyden ran for the U.S. House of Representatives and won. He took office in 1981 and was reelected seven times. In 1996, when Sen. Robert Packwood resigned from the U.S. Senate, Wyden ran for his seat in a special election and won by a narrow margin. He entered the Senate later that year.

While in Congress, Wyden earned a reputation as a moderate to liberal Democrat who typically voted with his party leadership. However, he also argued for what he called “principled bipartisanship,” and in that spirit he wrote or cosponsored numerous bipartisan bills on such issues as health care, infrastructure, tax reform, and natural resource policy. Wyden opposed the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq while supporting legislation to deny the right of habeas corpus to enemy combatants. He also advocated making English the official language of the United States. In 2010 Wyden was treated for early-stage prostate cancer, and he subsequently became active in cancer-related issues. He fought efforts to reduce funding for Medicare and supported the legalization of medical marijuana.